1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system and device to mitigate the potential for serious injury due to a fallen rider or driver being dragged by a horse or horse-drawn vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Equestrian sports such as harness racing, thoroughbred horse racing, steeplechase, show jumping, and other equestrian events have a very long tradition. In such sports, riders of horses or drivers of horse-drawn vehicles use control lines, sometimes referred to as reins that are usually connected to the horse's bridle, in the case of bitless bridles such as a hackamore for example, or to a bit in the horse's mouth, to directionally control and guide the horse to the left or the right or to stop the horse. This is usually accomplished with at least two control lines, one for the right direction and one for the left direction. To reduce the chance that the rider or driver will lose control of one or more of the control lines, the terminal ends of the control lines near where they are normally held by the rider, jockey, or driver are connected together. A harness racing sulky used in harness racing is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,911, issued to Gray et al. on Oct. 19, 1999, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Heretofore, the terminal ends of the control lines near where they are normally held by the driver of the sulky have been connected together by a connector having a central swivel, two short strap portions connected to each side of the swivel, and a buckle connected to the end of each strap. An example of this type of connector is shown in FIGS. 1-2. The terminal ends of the control lines have holes for engagement by the buckles 51 of the connector 50. The connection provided by the prior art connector can withstand a great deal of tensile force without allowing the terminal ends of the control lines to separate. All too frequently, if a fallen driver has one or both legs or other extremity entangled in the control lines, the fallen driver will be dragged to his or her death or will suffer grievous injury because the prior art connector will not allow the terminal ends of the control lines to separate and release the fallen driver.
A similar problem exists in horseback riding and horseracing. The traditional control lines for these sports are connected using a buckle as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,656, issued to Meaghan on Sep. 22, 1992, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This type of connector 52 is also illustrated in FIGS. 3-4. Again, the terminal ends of the control lines, near where they are held by the rider, are connected by a buckle that will not allow the ends of the control lines to separate and release a fallen rider, which entails the risk of death or severe injury.
The problem outlined above has persisted for decades, perhaps centuries, with no known attempt at finding a solution. The need persists in the art for a safety device that will mitigate the potential for serious injury due to a fallen rider or driver being dragged by a horse or horse drawn vehicle.